


Stealing hugs and kisses.

by Bluemoondreams



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dubious Consent, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-16 00:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11242566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluemoondreams/pseuds/Bluemoondreams
Summary: This fiction was inspired by the art of Freddolina on Deviantart and written as a set of encounters over time between Branch and Creek.





	1. Chapter one

Just some random bits of fluff and angst that popped into my head, I hope that you will all enjoy it. Warnings fluff, romance, angst and two males in love. I have dyslexia so please go easy on my spelling and grammar I do the best I can with the help of my assistive technology. 

Stealing hugs and kisses.

The first instance:

Branch was in troll village he didn’t like to come into the village when he could avoid it, but there were times like this when the grey troll simply couldn’t avoid going into the village. Today was one of those days the grey troll was simply doing some essential shopping, when he had finished making his purchases Branch paid for them and then he left the shop. Not long after the grey troll left the shop a voice he really hadn’t wanted to hear while he was in the village said from his left side. “Namaste Branch.”

“Creek.” The survivalist Branch said in a cool tone of voice as he walked past the purple troll, trying to make it clear to the other troll he didn’t want anything to do with him.

The spiritual troll ignored the survivalist’s attitude, he walked beside Branch as he started to make his way through the town heading towards the edge of the village. Then just as they got to the edge of the troll village Creek addressed the other troll. “You know you really should think about joining me in some meditation Branch it would help you to feel more at peace.”

The survivalist rolled his eyes at the other troll and spoke to the guru in a dismissive tone. “Why would I want to feel at peace? Why would I even want to try something even remotely spiritual or that required me to spend a lot of time around you?”

“I think you are far more spiritual than you let on and I’m sure that after you spent a bit more time around me you wouldn’t feel so negatively about me.” Creek said this with a grin for the troll at his side.

The grey troll shook his head at the guru and looked heavenwards. “I am not spiritual in any way and I don’t want to get to know you better Creek I already know you well enough already. As far as I am concerned it’s just a shame none of the other trolls can see how much of a fraud you are, were as I can see it quite clearly now go away and leave me alone Creek.”

“No, I don’t think so somehow.” The purple troll told him, this just caused Branch to started to walk faster determined to get rid of the other troll but despite the fact that the survivalist had picked up his pace Creek easily kept up with the grey troll.

“Why can’t you just try to be a little more positive?” Creek asked the grey troll as they walked.

“Ugh not this again!” Branch said with clear aggravation.

The purple troll shot the survivalist a confident smile before he said. “I’m sure you’d like it if you just tried it.”

The grey troll shook his head at Creek, glared at him and then said to the guru. “That is not ever going to happen.”

It was at this moment that Creek’s hug time bracelet went off, as soon as it did this the purple troll grabbed Branch and hugged him hard. When he did this the surprised survivalist came to a halt, he glared at the other troll and then spoke to Creek through gritted teeth. “Creek let go of me right now.”

“No, come on you have to admit this is nice! You like the fact I’m stealing a hug, I can tell because it’s making you aura happier.”

Branch let out a deep sigh, he determinedly pulled the arms of the other troll away from him, which caused the purple troll to frown at the survivalist. “Go peddle your mumbo jumbo some were else Creek.” The grey troll said before he stepped away from Creek, Branch then whipped his hair out curled it round a nearby branch and swung away from the purple troll wanting to get as far away from the guru as was possible as quickly as he could.

“I’m not about to give up on you love.” Creek said softly to himself determination clear in his grey blue eyes as he spoke.


	2. Chapter two

The second instance:

Branch was enjoying a quiet walk in the forest one afternoon several days after Creek had stolen a hug from him, as he walked the grey troll was looking around him, this was because despite the fact that this walk was just one which the survivalist was on because he wanted to be on it, Branch was still keeping a close eye on his surroundings for any potential dangers, as well as thing which might be useful for him in his bunker. Branch eventually found himself stopping to admire some blue daisies which were in full bloom when he was suddenly tackled to the ground by a purple blur. It took the survivalist a moment to realise that it was Creek on top of him, the guru was hugging him harder than he had last time and the purple troll had his head against his with one hand stroking over his dark hair in a gesture of intimacy which made the survivalist very uncomfortable. “You are so warm Branch!”

The grey troll somehow managed to wedge his hand between himself and Creek, he pushed it against the other troll’s cheek trying to get him back off of him, while his other hand was gripping tightly at the grass in a gesture of discomfort. “GET OFF ME!” Branch yelled at Creek.

“Nope.” The purple troll said to him in a dismissive tone of voice, the guru pulled back slightly, he grabbed the hand Branch had put up between them, Creek pressed a kiss to the palm of his hand before he pushed it to the grass holding it down with his fingers threaded between those of the other troll. Once he had done this to one hand Creek then ran his other hand down Branch’s other arm, he gently pulled the survivalist’s hand away from the grass, with this done the purple troll kissed the palm of this hand too, before putting his fingers between those of Branch’s second hand and then pinning that hand down to the grass just like he had done with the grey troll’s other hand.

Branch looked up at him wide eyed and asked with a slight trace of fear to his voice. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Creek asked him with a cheek grin for the grey troll.

“It looks like you are stealing another hug and pinning me down.”

“Indeed I am.” The guru confirmed.

“Why are you doing that?” Branch asked him with confusion.

“Because I don’t want you to be able to run away from me this time.” As he said this Creek turned his head to one side, he nuzzled into the chest of the grey troll and let out a hum of contentment.

“Creek get off of me.” Branch said for a second time but this time he spoke the words through gritted teeth.

The purple troll shook his head against the chest of the other male troll and then said softly. “Not until you hold my hands back and admit you are enjoying me hugging you.”

The survivalist let out a deep sigh. “I don’t enjoy being hugged by any of the trolls, so I’m not about to say I enjoy it from you.”

“Then I am afraid we are going to be here for a long while.” Creek promised the other troll, he lay with his head against the other troll’s chest and as Branch lay their quietly under him the guru could hear the strong steady beating of the other troll’s heart. “Um, I could lay here forever and listen to your heart beating it’s so soothing.” The guru said softly to the grey troll.

The survivalist said nothing in response to this, instead he just watched the spiritual troll laying on top of him with his ear pressed against his chest over where his heart was. Slowly but surely the purple troll’s grey blue eyes closed, his breathing became even, then his hands relaxed against Branch’s and the grey troll realised that Creek had fallen asleep on top of him. Slowly the survivalist sat up, as he did so Branch was very careful not to disturb the sleeping troll, once he was sitting up the survivalist carefully cradled the other troll in his arms and looked down at Creek. Seeing the purple troll this vulnerable in his arms stirred a protective feeling in Branch, it was a feeling which the grey troll fought instantly to make go away but it just wouldn’t and the survivalist let out a soft sigh. Branch shook his head slightly only Creek could manage to find a strange way to make him feel protective of a troll he usually hated. 

Slowly the grey troll stood up making sure not to wake the other troll as he did so, Branch walked back to the troll village carrying the other troll in his arms like a bride. When the grey troll got to the village he was glad that it was quiet this afternoon because the survivalist had no idea how he was going to explain to any of the other trolls why he was carrying the sleeping Creek. When Branch made it to the guru’s pod he manoeuvred the troll in his arms so that he could open the door, one the door to the pod was open the survivalist stepped inside, he carried Creek across the pod to his bed, gently Branch lowered the soundly asleep spiritual troll into his bed and then quietly left the purple trolls pod. Once the survivalist was outside of the other trolls pod he let out a relived breath, before he then quickly dashed back down the troll tree, he then ran all the way back to his bunker and as soon as he was inside Branch slammed its hatch closed behind him.

The grey troll spent the rest of that day trying to get the image of the sleeping Creek in his arms out of his mind and trying to make himself not let seeing him so vulnerable like that to make feel any differently about the guru than he had before this had happened. Unfortunately for the grey troll it appeared that his mind was not willing to give the image or those feelings up as when Branch went to sleep that night he found himself dreaming about carrying Creek back to his pod. In the dream the survivalist lay Creek gently down in his bed just as he had done that day, but unlike before instead of just leaving him to sleep Branch had looked down at the purple troll and felt a surge of protectiveness as well as a warm a feeling which he refused to name go through him. Branch leant over Creek, he had stroked his hair in an affectionate gesture, before he had then kissed his forehead and said softly but sadly to the sleeping Creek. “Give up on me, I can never give you my heart I am sorry.”


	3. Chapter three

The third instance:

A few days after this second encounter with Creek Branch was sitting on a branch of a tree in the forest, the grey troll was thinking about what room he had left in the bunker and what might be best stored in those spaces. As he thought about this the grey troll was still listening to all of the noises around him and keeping an eye on his surroundings. Branch heard the buzzing of a bug, he looked to his left in time to see Creek being dropped onto the same branch as him by one of his bug. Instantly the grey troll slumped slightly, an expression of aggravation and annoyance came onto Branch’s face. “Namaste Branch.” Creek said in greeting to the other troll.

The grey troll looked away from the purple troll and let out a deep sigh before saying. “Now what do you want?”

“I noticed you sitting here on your own so I thought I’d join you.” Creek told the other troll before he sat down on the branch next to the survivalist.

Branch rolled his eyes towards the sky before he hastily stood up. “I’d rather be joined by a Bergan than by you Creek.”

The purple troll grabbed the hand of the other troll and tried to pull him back down on the branch next to him but Branch resisted him, which caused Creek to exert some more force against the other troll and his doing this sent them both tumbling off of the edge of the branch. Without stopping to think about it the grey troll used the hold Creek had on his hand to pull the other troll close to him, placing his other arm around the purple troll as he did so, at the same time as he did this Branch swung his hair out he grabbed hold of a lower branch and used this branch to slow their decent. By the time the two trolls came to a halt they weren’t far from the forest floor, Branch carefully released his hair from the branch above them allowing the two trolls to land with ease onto the grass below them. The grey troll looked at Creek who was staring at him wide eyed and open mouthed, which caused a small huff of laughter to escape the survivalist before he said to Creek. “Are you alright?”

The purple troll shook himself out of his surprise and then gave Branch a nod. “Yes, I’m fine thanks to you.”

“Don’t ever do something that stupid again.” The grey troll said as he released the other troll and stepped a short distance away from him.

“I wouldn’t have to if you would just stop walking away from me all the time.” Creek said to him as he went after the retreating survivalist. 

“Creek I don’t like you, I don’t hide that and you most certainly don’t like me, so why should we have to suffer each other’s presence?”

“I don’t understand, why you don’t like me?” The purple troll asked him a note of hurt creeping into his voice as he spoke.

“Because you peddle a lot of rubbish as far as I am concerned and because whenever you get the chance you make my life as miserable as possible.”

The purple troll winced, so maybe he had teased Branch a lot and tried to make him look more paranoid than he was, but that was just because he didn’t want any other trolls getting any ideas about trying to make Branch theirs. Creek was sure that if the rest of the trolls got to see the other sides of the grey troll then he would be snapped up as a mate very quickly and the guru didn’t want there to be any competition for Branch’s heart. He was already aware that Poppy had started to pay a lot more attention to the survivalist lately and Creek knew that the princess had a way of finding things out about other trolls that others didn’t know. The purple troll was also well aware of the fact that Poppy had a way of worming her way into the affections and hearts of other trolls without them noticing. “I’m not trying to make you miserable, I just want you to try being a little more positive and spiritual, I really think that it might do you some good.”

“Do me some good? Neither of those things are going to help me if a Bergan comes to find us.” Branch said with a huff.

At that moment Creek’s hug time bracelet went off, the purple troll turned to the other troll with a huge grin on his face and approached Branch with his arms open wide. As the guru did this, the grey troll shot him a disgusted look, he shook his head at Creek and then said to him as he backed away from the purple troll. “Oh no that is not happening for a third time.”

Grinning mischievously Creek came after Branch again, as the grey troll took another step back his foot made contact with something, the survivalist tripped and he fell backwards onto the grass landing hard on his bottom. “Ow…” The grey troll grumbled out.

The purple troll came down onto his knees beside Branch, the guru reached out he took the grey trolls chin into his hand and said softly. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Branch assured him in clipped tones his cheeks going a deeper shade of grey as he spoke.

Noticing his blush Creek smiled at Branch, he let go of the chin of the other troll and moved a little closer to him, as the purple troll did this it caused the survivalist to take a deep breath. “Creek what are you doing?”

“Stealing a kiss.” The purple troll told him in a low tone of voice, before Branch could say a word Creek’s lips where on his and the grey troll froze in shock. The guru carefully brought one of his arms around Branch and then he gently stroked his hand over the back of the other troll trying to get him to relax into it the kiss a little. As the survivalist tried to pull his lips away from Creek’s the purple troll slipped the fingers of his other hand into Branch’s hair only allowing him to pull back a little to draw in a few ragged breaths before bringing their lips together again. This time when the purple troll did this it caused a small noise of surprise to leave the survivalist, which made Creek smile and stroke over the grey troll’s back again.

Branch was rather surprised by the fact that the guru kissing him was making him feel warm inside and thrilled at the same time, the grey troll found himself wanting to relax, as well as wanting to return the kiss and it took all of his strength and determination to bring his arms up to try to push Creek away from him. The spiritual troll felt Branch’s hands as they came up onto his shoulders, the fingers flexed there for a moment as if the survivalist was unsure about what he was going to do next and then the next thing Creek knew he was being pushed away by the grey troll. As the other troll had moved the spiritual troll had instinctively let go of Branch, he had not been expecting the other troll to push him with such force and therefore Creek found himself sprawled out on his back on the forest floor.

Branch wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he glared at the guru and then said in venomous tones. “You just stole my first kiss jerk!” This said the grey troll pushed himself up and onto his feet, before looking down at the purple troll and addressing him again. “Do yourself a favour and stay away from me Creek, because if you don’t I may just strangle you.” Branch turned before walking swiftly back out of the clearing muttering to himself the entire time.

The purple troll pushed himself into a sitting position, as he watched the survivalist walked away from him yet again and Creek let out a low pitched growl. The spiritual troll thumped the ground with his fist furry filling him, he was going to convince Branch that they belonged together somehow and he wasn’t going to give up on his goal which was to make the other troll his. The purple troll was well aware of how good the survivalist was at strangling with his hair, so he was going to need to be ready for it when Branch tried to do it to him and Creek had no doubt that the grey troll would try to strangle him with his hair when he continued to pursue him.


	4. Chapter four

The fourth instance:

Branch had managed to avoid Creek for three weeks, but the grey troll had been aware of the other troll watching him a few times though the survivalist had been very careful not to show that he was aware of the guru’s eyes on him. To be honest the grey troll had been hoping that after their last three encounters Creek would just leave him alone, but it appeared that was not to be the case. Branch couldn’t help but wonder exactly what the purple troll was up to by perusing him in the way he was. The grey troll was also confused as to why Creek was determinedly stealing hugs and kisses from him whenever he got the chance to. Today Branch was in the forest collecting blackberries, it was the perfect time of year for them, unable to help himself the grey troll stopped, he sat down on the grass and started to nibble on one of the blackberries. The survivalist gave a sigh of pleasure as he tasted the berry, it was just wonderful, Branch jumped as a voice from above him said softly. “So, you like blackberries mate…I’ll have to remember that.”

The grey troll swallowed the last bit of the berry, he looked up to see Creek sitting on a branch further up the tree he was under, his back was against the the trunk of the tree, the purple troll was looking over its right edge down at him with an intense gaze. “I am not your mate in any shape way or form Creek. I thought I made that clear to you last few times that we have encountered each other, I thought I had also made it obvious to you that I didn’t want or like your company.”

“That’s a shame, because I’ve decided that I rather like yours and that I want to spend some more time in your company.” Creek told him in a tranquil tone of voice.

“How can you like the company of a troll who clearly hates you?” Branch asked him with clear confusion.

The guru shrugged at the grey troll, before he used his hair to swing down from the branch he had been sitting on, he landed on the grass in front of Branch, as soon as Creek landed the survivalist was up on his feet and their blue gazes met. “I don’t think that deep down you really hate me…I could feel you relaxing and wanting to kiss me back last time.”

Branch raked his eyes dismissively over the other troll before saying coolly. “Don’t flatter yourself Creek. If you are so desperate for a kiss I’m sure that Poppy will be more than willing to oblige you.”

“If Poppy is going to be kissing any troll it’s you, I’ve seen the way our princess has been eyeing you lately…And I don’t like it mate.”

The grey troll glared at the guru as he said. “I told you not to call me mate. I am not responsible for the way your girlfriend decides to look at other troll’s, if you don’t like it then talk to her about it not me.”

“Poppy is not my girlfriend, but you might be right, maybe I should have a word with her about the way she is looking at my mate.” The purple troll said anger creeping into his voice as he said this to the other troll.

“Call me your mate one more time Creek and I will lose my temper.” Branch warned him. “I am not your mate and I will never be your mate.”

“Oh, I don’t know I think if you’d give me the chance I could convince you becoming my mate would be a good thing for both of us.” Creek said to him smiling with self confidence and running his eyes hungrily over the grey troll.

The survivalist let out a low pitched growl, he whipped his hair out towards Creek, but expecting this reaction to his words the purple troll caught his hair with his own, and then wound his own two toned hair around the black hair of the other troll holding it tightly to prevent Branch from being able to use it on him again. Quickly the guru stepped forward and he pushed the other troll back against the tree effectively pinning him against the trunk of it with his body. When this happened, Branch let out a surprised gasp which was cut off as the purple troll pushed his lips hard against those of the grey troll. As the survivalist brought his hands up to try to push Creek off of him, the spiritual troll also expecting this after last time caught his hands by the wrists and pinned them to his sides against the tree. When the guru finally pulled back from the kiss, the two trolls were both gasping for air, but before Branch could demand that Creek let him go the purple troll crashed their lips together again. All the survivalist was able to do was let the spiritual troll kiss him, just like last time Branch could feel himself wanting to relax and kiss Creek back. The grey troll was unwilling to let the purple troll be right about his changing feelings towards him so Branch made himself just stand there stiffly, accept what was happening to him and not respond to it in any way.

The purple troll pulled back, he growled at the survivalist and said to him. “Stop trying to resist me love.”

“I am not your love, get off of me Creek.”

“No I don’t think so my mate, I know you want this really Branch so why not relax and let it happen.” As the guru said this he leant in, he kissed the other troll’s lips gently this time, running his tongue over the bottom lip of the other troll as he did so.

The strange sensation made Branch give a start of surprise, he gasped and as the grey troll gasped Creek pushed his tongue gently into the inside of the mouth of the other troll. This action on the part of the purple troll wrenched a second gasp which had a slight moan to its edge this time from the survivalist. Pleased by this response to his actions, the guru tightened his hold on Branch, he brushed his tongue over that of the grey troll who let out a small noise of pleasure in response to this and very slowly, clearly nervous the survivalist pressed tongue back against that of the spiritual troll. Creek responded to this by gently rubbing his tongue against that of the other troll eager to encourage Branch in his responses. 

The grey troll let out a small hum of enjoyment, he relaxed further in the hold of the other troll, as the survivalist relaxed Creek slowly slid his hands off of Branch’s arms, he then gently stroked his hands along the grey troll’s arms wanting to make the still mostly unyielding troll relax a little more, which he did ever so gradually. After a few more moments the guru broke this kiss, when he did this both trolls were panting again, Branch’s eyes had become half lidded, his mouth was open slightly as he panted and Creek had to admit that he liked this expression on the face of the survivalist. “See I told you, that you would like it if you let yourself relax.” Creek told the other troll and as soon as he said the words the purple troll wished he hadn’t as instantly Branch’s expression hardened.

The grey troll’s dark hair suddenly pushed against the hair holding his, not expecting him to do this Branch managed to break the other troll’s hairs hold on him, at the same time the grey troll brought his arms up and pushed Creek away from him sending the guru stumbling backwards. Quickly the survivalist pushed away from the trunk of the tree, he glared at the guru, the grey troll then turned and ran away from Creek as fast as his legs would carry him. Once he was sure Branch was gone the purple troll walked back over to the tree, he lay his head against the trunk of the tree, he balled up his hand and thumped it hard against the tree. Creek felt like such an idiot, he had been so close to making a break through with Branch and once again he had managed to mess it up completely.


	5. chapter five

The fifth instance:

It was now three days since this fourth encounter between the two male trolls, and today Branch was helping the troll tree’s healers by gathering medicinal herbs they needed for them. It was now afternoon and time for the herbs to be collected and taken back to the troll village, the grey troll was none to surprised when Poppy came bounding up to him to collect them. “Hey Branch my man!” She said to him with her usual enthusiasm.

“Hey Poppy, come to collect the herbs?”

“Yep…Wow that’s an impressive haul…I think I’m going to need help getting it all back.” The princess told the grey troll eyeing him speculatively as she did so.

Branch looked over at what he had collected, he had to admit he had done rather well this year and decided the princess was right she was going to need the help of another troll to carry all of the herbs back to the troll tree. “If you want me to help you only had to ask.”

“Well then, Branch you strong and handsome troll will you help me carry all these herbs back to the village?” Poppy asked him with a cheeky grin for the grey troll.

Noticing this grin, the grey troll had to sit on the chuckle which wanted to escape him and instead answered the question. “Of course, I will fair princess.” As he spoke the grey troll gave Poppy a mocking over the top courtly bow.

Poppy gave him a playful shove, Branch just smirked at her and gathered up some of the medicinal herbs, while the princess gathered up the rest. Together the two trolls made their way back to town, they talked about what Branch was inventing at the moment and Poppy’s latest cupcake disaster apparently apple and peanut butter was not a good combination in a cupcake and the survivalist had to admit that it did sound rather disgusting. Side by side Branch and Poppy made their way to the healer’s pod where they handed their precious cargo to the extremely pleased troll healers. After the two trolls had delivered the herbs to the healer’s pod the two of them walked back through the troll village, as they walked Poppy put her arm through Branch’s looked up at him with big eyes and said. “So can I interest you in a cupcake?”

“No thank you.” The grey troll said firmly but politely.

“Aw come on Branch just one cupcake to say thank you for helping me bring all the medicinal herbs back to the village.” Poppy made her eyes even bigger than before, and pouted in the cutest way she could at the other troll.

Branch rolled his eyes at her, but he found that he really couldn’t say no to that cute face so instead the grey troll said. “Alright, but just one cup cake.”

With Poppy’s cute form of persuasion one cupcake soon turned into three and a cup of herbal tea, the two trolls continued to talk in an easy way about this and that as they sat outside the café in the autumn sunshine. All of the trolls going passed the shop would do a double take when they noticed that Branch and Poppy were sitting together eating cupcakes and that the princess was clearly flirting with the grey troll.

Creek had been heading to the village shops when he had spotted Branch and Poppy sitting together eating and talking and as soon as the spiritual troll noticed them together he froze in place. It was clear to him from the way that the princess was talking to and looking at the survivalist that she had her cuteness and flirtation skills running at full power. As Creek looked at Branch he could see that for once the other troll was comfortable in the presence of another troll and he was even blushing slightly as Poppy spoke to him. The purple troll felt a stab of envy, he let out a low growl, Branch should only be blushing for him and he should be feeling comfortable around him not the princess. The last straw for Creek was when Poppy reached out and placed a hand on top of one of Branch’s causing the grey troll to blush an even deeper shade of grey than before.

Creek matched across to where they were sitting, he quickly took hold of Poppy’s hand he removed it from on top of Branch’s, the purple troll then let go of her hand before quickly and firmly taking hold of the survivalist’s hand. Once Creek had hold of the grey troll’s hand he pulled Branch up out of his chair causing the chair fall back onto the ground as he did so and then still holding onto the survivalist’s hand firmly the guru walked away from a stunned Poppy towards the forest while the grey troll stumbled after him. Once the guru felt that they were far enough away from the village for it to take a while for the pink troll to find them if she would be able to find them at all Creek brought them to a halt. The purple troll let go of the hand of the survivalist, then turned to face Branch, the grey troll was stunned by the look of pure furry on the face of the other troll and when Creek spoke in was in a low angry voice. “That princess…I told you she had an eye on you!”

The survivalist frowned at Creek with confusion before saying. “What are you talking about Poppy just brought me cupcakes and tea to thank me for helping her out.”

“Oh yes sure she did, that’s why Poppy was being so cute around you, why she was flirting with you and trying to hold your hand.” The purple troll said a distinct growl to his voice as he spoke, at the same time as he spoke to Branch like this Creek’s hands had balled into fists which shook at his sides.

A sudden inspiration struck Branch and he said softly to the other troll. “Creek are you envious because the princess was spending time with me? Because if…” The grey troll got no further because with a noise of furry Creek slammed his lips against those of the survivalist almost toppling them onto the ground. The force of this unexpected kiss and the fact it had felt to Branch like they were going to fall over had caused the grey troll to bring his arms up and put them around Creek to steady them both.

Once they had recovered their balance Branch went to remove his arms from around the guru, but the spiritual troll caught hold of them and kept the other troll’s arms where they were. Slowly but surely Creek deepened the kiss, he was rewarded by Branch locking his arms more firmly round his back in order to hold the purple close to him for the first time. It was the grey troll who broke the kiss, he was panting hard, then as he looked over Creek’s shoulder and his eyes widened. Branch moved quickly grabbing hold of the purple troll and pushing him behind him as he whipped his hair out at a jelly spider which had come out of the forest behind them. The guru turned to see what was going on and his eyes widened as he realised that Branch was protecting him from the spider which would have attacked them both had the grey troll not noticed it in time and taken immediate action. The survivalist whipped his hair out over and over, he was landing blow after blow on the spider and the whole time he was attacking it Branch was growling furiously at the jelly spider. Creek had never seen the grey troll act in a protective manor before, neither had he heard Branch sound so fearsome before and he had to admit that he rather liked this protective side of the other troll. The jelly spider soon realising that it wasn’t going to get passed Branch retreated back into the forest and once it was gone Creek said softly to the grey troll. “Thank you for protecting me.”

Branch let out a large huff of air and one last growl in the direction the spider had gone in before turning back to Creek. “Your welcome.”

“Look Branch I really do want to be your mate.” As the purple troll said this he took one of the other troll’s hands into his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

The grey troll looked down at their joined hands and back to the grey blue eyes of the guru and shook his head. “I keep telling you I don’t want to be your mate.”

Creek only smiled devilishly as the survivalist said this, he moved in, then placed a feather light kiss to Branch’s mouth, followed by another and then another. The grey troll had not expecting this kind of kissing from the guru, he felt his breath hitching, it was a totally different sensation from the overwhelming kisses Creek usually gave him and Branch found himself experiencing the urge to place his hand to the back of the purple troll’s head and get him to kiss him properly. Creek therefore let out a noise of surprise when Branch unable to stand it anymore brought a hand up, cupped the back of his head with one hand and brought their lips together more firmly. The grey troll let out a breathy sigh of relief before he could stop himself, this felt so much better to him than the torture of those earlier light kisses. Slowly the two trolls broke this kiss, Branch’s hand fell away from the back of the guru’s head to his side, his teal blue eyes met the grey blue of the spiritual troll and he spoke. “Creek I…I lov…”

“CREEK!” Yelled the angry voice of the princess from not far away.

As soon as he heard that shout Branch instantly changed, he stiffened, then quickly the grey troll moved back from him and said to the other troll. “Poppy is calling you, you had better go.”

“But I don’t want to go…I don’t want to leave you Branch…” Creek told Branch honestly taking a step towards him.

“CREEK!” The princess shouted for a second time her voice nearer to the two of them than it had been a few moments before.

“Your friend is waiting for you.” The survivalist said before, he turned and ran off into the forest heading for the safety of his bunker.

The spiritual troll let out a long low growl, he stalked off in the direction of the voice of the princess muttering to himself the whole way about how stupidly noble Branch was and how annoying it was that Poppy had started to develop romantic feelings for his mate of all trolls. As he walked the guru also cursed the princess inventively for interrupting a confession he’d been wanting to hear from Branch for the longest time now. Creek knew that after her display at the café today he was going to have to have a few stern words with Poppy about perusing his love and he also knew that after her interruption that getting Branch to confess he loved him for a second time was going to be exceedingly difficult.


	6. chapter six

The sixth instance:

Two weeks later Branch was sitting cross legged on the grass near the entrance to his bunker weaving some rope when Creek walked out from the nearby forest, when he spotted the survivalist the guru came to a halt and stood there looking at the grey troll as he worked. Feeling eyes on him Branch looked up from him work to see who was there, as he noticed that it was Creek standing not far from him watching him working, the grey troll raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing. “I want to talk to you.” The purple troll said to him eventually.

“Really, what could you possibly have to talk to me about after last time?” Branch said in a very cool tone of voice, trying with all his might to stamp down on the butterflies he could feel fluttering inside him at the sight of the other troll.

“Well I was hoping that at some point you were going to explain to me how I ended up in my pod and in my bed, after I fell asleep on top of you?”

“I’d have thought the answer to that question was obvious…I carried you back to your pod and put you into your bed.” The grey troll told him in a strait forward manor.

Creek walked over to Branch and sat on the grass opposite the other troll. “Thank you for that.”

“Your welcome.”

The purple troll was quiet for a few moments before he addressed the survivalist again. “The time for choosing mates is coming up again soon…”

Before the guru could get any further Branch interrupted him. “Don’t even think about telling me I should be your mate because that is not going to happen.”

“But Branch we’d make good mates surely you can see that by now and I know that you were going to tell me you loved me before Poppy interrupted us.” Creek said to him with exasperation clear in his voice.

The grey troll sneered at the other troll as he said to him. “All I can see is a troll who is determined to have his own way. I do not want to be your mate, I will only be mates with the one troll I love and since that is not you I’d be very glad if you would get the idea out of your head that my being your mate is in anyway possible.”

Deciding he had heard enough Creek leant forward, he wrapped his arms around Branch hugging him, the grey troll froze as yet again the spiritual troll stole yet another hug from him, and then the next thing the survivalist was aware of was the guru leaning forward further causing them to tumble over onto the ground. As he hit the ground Branch let out a huff of breath, as they had toppled over Creek had moved his arms from around the survivalist, so that when the two trolls hit the ground the purple troll’s hands were on the ground on each side of the grey troll’s head with his arms propping him up. As they had landed the spiritual troll’s legs had landed between Branch’s spread ones leaving him now looking down on the survivalist from a more dominant position than ever before. “Mine…My mate.” Creek said in a soft low voice as their eyes met.

“Creek stop it.” Branch said warningly to the other troll.

“No love I won’t stop until you get it Branch.”

“There is nothing to get Creek, I won’t be your mate, I don’t love you, I am not spiritual and you are not the right troll for me! Now get off of me!”

“You’re a terrible liar mate.” Creek said softly to the other troll.

Before Branch could answer this statement from the spiritual troll, the guru slammed his lips to those of the grey troll, the survivalist let out a noise of surprise as Creek did this. Just as he had done during one of their previous encounters the guru ran his tongue over the lips of Branch’s mouth, the grey troll shivered but not with fear it was instead a shiver of pleasure which surprised him a little. The survivalist’s breathing became slightly ragged, he couldn’t help but open his mouth as the tongue of the other troll swept along his lip for a second time. Once the grey troll had opened his mouth Creek gently pushed his tongue into Branch’s mouth, he stroked his tongue against that of the survivalist’s trying to encourage him to respond just as he had the last time they had kissed like this. The grey troll shivered with pleasure once more, he was well aware that every time that Creek overwhelmed him like this and started to kiss him, that his resistance to it was starting to fade and that he was starting to enjoy both being overwhelmed by the other troll as well as being kissed by him.

Branch slowly pushed his tongue back against Creek’s and he also started to move his lips for only the second time against those of the other troll kissing the purple troll back properly. The guru let out a hum of contentment as Branch responded positively to him, slowly the grey troll raised his arms, as he did this Creek stopped kissing the survivalist and pulled back from Branch slightly. As the survivalist moved his arms up a little more the purple troll instantly flinched, after all he was well aware of what would follow this action on the part of the grey troll under him, he closed his eyes and prepared for what was bound to come next. Seeing the other troll’s reaction to his movements Branch instantly felt bad about the way he had been behaving towards the other troll, the grey troll knew in that moment that he had perhaps been too harsh on Creek recently and that he should do something so that Creek knew he wasn’t going to try and push him away this time. 

Branch slowly let his arms fall back down onto the ground, the grey troll thought for a few moments about how he could make feel the spiritual troll feel more comfortable with this situation as well as how he could let Creek know that he wasn’t going to push him away. Then an idea presented itself to him, deciding to follow this idea Branch moved his arms slowly across the grass up towards his head, when he reached where Creek’s hands were on the grass beside his head the grey troll gently but firmly pushed his wrists against the guru’s hands. As he did this, the unexpected action on the part of the grey troll caused Creek’s grey blue eyes to shoot open, they clashed with the teal blue ones of the survivalist, Branch gave him a small nod which caused the purple troll to frown with confusion and the grey troll simply repeated the action of pushing his wrists against the hands of the guru.

Suddenly wonder flooded through Creek, he gulped slightly afraid that this action on the part of Branch didn’t mean what he thought it did. For a third time but more instantly this time the grey troll pressed his wrists against the hands of the guru, gulping again the spiritual troll lifted his left hand, he watched wide eyed as when he did this Branch slid his wrist across into a position where it was right below his hovering left hand. Their gazes met again, the survivalist gave Creek another nod, the purple troll lowered his hand taking hold of that wrist firmly and pinning it to the ground. The purple troll quickly moved up his right hand wanting to take hold of Branch’s second wrist, this time the survivalist gulped, he was suddenly nervous about letting Creek have this power over him, but the grey troll didn’t want to see the other troll flinch like that again and if that meant surrendering like this then Branch felt he could as well as should. The grey troll took a deep breath, then he slid his other wrist across the grass underneath the spiritual troll’s hand, before Branch could think to change his mind Creek quickly brought his other hand down, he took hold of the wrist of the survivalist carefully pinning it to the grass to. “Branch…?” Creek asked him softly wanting to confirm that he was alright with this.

The grey troll couldn’t find any words to answer this gently asked question so he instead he brought his head up a little, Branch tenderly pressed his lips to those of Creek, his eyes shot wide again and then the purple troll returned the kiss carefully pushing Branch’s head back down against the grass. This kiss was more like two trolls in love kissing, their lips danced together, for both of them this felt even more blissful than it had before and it felt like they were supposed to be doing this together. Their breathing was becoming more ragged, slowly Creek broke the kiss, their eyes met, for the first time Branch smiled at the guru and the purple troll felt his heart lurch with joy and pleasure.

The grey troll truly wanted to give into the feelings he had for the other troll, but Branch wasn’t sure that he could stand to love another troll only to lose them just as he had his grandma. As far as the survivalist could see the best thing to do for both their sakes was to end this now, yes it would hurt, but Branch felt sure that it would hurt them both less in the long run. “I’m sorry…I want to love…But I can’t…” The grey troll said softly as his smile turned sad, but before Creek could say anything to him the survivalist found himself repeating the words from his dream. “You need to give up on me, I can never give you my heart…I can never give it to any troll…I’m sorry…I kept trying to tell you…”

For the first time Creek realised that there was a deep pain inside the other troll, which Branch had been hiding from them all and the purple troll asked him as gently as possible. “What happened to you?”

Branch shook his head at the spiritual troll. “It doesn’t matter, what matters is that it left me far too scared to love easily…Creek let me go and find another troll…A better troll.” Creek didn’t say anything, he released the grey troll, he quickly moved off of him, the guru stood up and walked away from Branch without looking back at the other troll.

For the first time the survivalist got to watch Creek walk away, he felt a wave of sadness sweeping up him as this happened, as he rolled onto his side in the direction that the purple troll had walked off in the wave of sadness crashed down over him and for the first time since his grandma had died Branch wept. Great sobs wracked his body, tears streamed down his face, the grey troll curled up, holding his hands pressed against his chest over his heart. “It’s better this way.” Branch told himself between the sobs though those words didn’t comfort him in the way they had before and the grey troll didn’t understand why he was feeling so torn inside up like this.


	7. Chapter seven

The seventh instance:

It took three weeks for Branch to get himself back together after this, there had been times when the survivalist had been convinced he was never going to stop crying but eventually he had. He hadn’t wanted to fall in love but the grey troll knew that somehow, somewhere along the way without realising it he had fallen in love with Creek. As much as the survivalist wanted to forget about what he felt for Creek, his heart and mind wouldn’t, as the purple troll was haunting his dreams every night. There were times Branch wanted to go and find the troll call him mate and love, before then begging Creek to forgive him for hurting him, but the survivalist had eventually managed through shear stubborn determination to bury all of the feelings that the guru had been waking up in him once more and carry on with his lonely life. The survivalist was sure that by now Creek had seen that he was a hopeless and pointless case and switched his attentions to another troll that troll more than likely being Poppy. 

The grey troll hadn’t seen Creek at all since this last encounter between them as they had been avoiding each other at all costs, but every time Branch thought he saw the spiritual troll his heart jumped in his chest and the survivalist felt those feelings he thought he had conquered try to come to back to the surface. Little did Branch know that Creek had been keeping an eye on the one he loved, the purple troll had hated seeing him in pain, he had wanted to comfort Branch but he knew it wouldn’t be well received by his mate so all he could do was wait, hope and try again to prove to the grey troll that they would be perfect together as a couple.

A loud hammering on Branch’s trap door heralded the arrival of Poppy, the survivalist thought about ignoring the other troll but he knew better than to do that, because it would only mean that the princess would keep coming back until he answered her knocking. The pink troll had been coming to his bunker to check he was still alive quiet regularly, she had told Branch that a troll who cared about him asked her to do it and those word had almost made the survivalist cry again as despite the fact Poppy hadn’t said his name the grey troll was sure she meant her future King Creek. With a sigh Branch made his way out of his bunker, he opened his trapdoor and came out of his bunker to stand in front of the pink troll crossing his arms as he did so. “Yes Poppy what is it?”

The princess held an invitation out to the survivalist. “It’s the autumn mating dance tonight, so here is your invitation.”

“Poppy you know I don’t go to parties!” The grey troll said to her with exasperation clear in his voice as he spoke to her.

“I know, but this is the autumn mating dance, it’s traditional to invite every troll to it…Besides I’m kind of hoping that this year, as this is a less over the top party that you might surprise us all and attend it for once.” A thoughtful expression came onto the face of the survivalist as the pink troll said this, he took the invitation from the princess and didn’t crush or destroy it. 

Poppy clearly surprised by this action on the part of the grey troll looked at him wide eyed and asked with shock clear in her voice. “Does this mean you’re going to come and maybe claim a mate?”

“Maybe.” This said, the grey troll quickly went back into his bunker, leaving the princess standing looking at the closed trap door and with a look of hope on her face. After standing there for a few more moment’s the pink troll quickly turned and hastily made her way back to the village. Once Poppy got to the village she went to see Creek, the princess told him about what had happened with Branch when she had given him the invitation and had been very happy to see hope fill the eyes of her friend once more.

When night came to the troll village Branch found himself sitting at his table looking at the invitation, slowly the grey troll rose, he left his bunker and the survivalist ran through the forest towards the village. Branch soon found himself at the party, as he looked around at the party the grey troll was glad to see that it was as Poppy had promised toned down from a normal troll party. The survivalist stepped out into the light, he drew several startled looks when he did this, but Branch ignored these looks. Eventually he spotted Poppy she was unsurprisingly dancing with Creek and the grey troll felt a stab of pain in his heart at the sight of them dancing together at the mating dance, but he forced himself to repeat his mantra. “It’s better this way.”

Right then Branch thought about going back to his bunker, but before he could go anywhere his left hand was suddenly grabbed, the grey troll gave a start of surprise and looked to his left to find Guy Diamond standing beside him grinning at him. “Branch! It’s so good to see you here!”

“Thanks.”

Before he could really register what was happening the sparkling troll was pulling him out onto the dancefloor with him. “I know you don’t dance much so I’ll take it slow and not push you.” Guy Diamond assured him, gently he placed his hands onto the grey troll’s waist, it felt so wrong to Branch that this troll was holding him instead of Creek but he didn’t stop him. The survivalist placed his own hands onto the waist of the Guy Diamond in response to this, after he had done this they slowly began to make their way around the dancefloor, in a simple but slow waltz. This unexpected couple were drawing a lot of startled glances from the rest of the trolls as they made their way around the dancefloor but both of them were ignoring these looks as they danced.

Branch slowly began to relax in the other troll’s hold and was growing more confident that Guy Diamond wouldn’t let him make a fool of himself as they danced together. As this song came to a close, Branch and Guy Diamond let go of each other and then they bowed to each other. Then just as the shimmering troll was about to take the survivalist’s hand in his once more Creek stepped between the two of them, he was facing Guy with a look of absolute furry on his face, the growl that came out of the spiritual troll was low and threatening and his hair had puffed out in a manner of a troll protecting its mate. Guy puffed out his own hair and growled in return, the eyes of all of the trolls present at the mating dance widened as it was clear these two trolls where about to fight over Branch of all trolls. “My mate.” Creek said in a low voice to Guy.

“Poppy is yours, Branch is mine!” The sparking troll spat back at the guru.

Creek growled again at the shimmering troll. “Branch is mine!”

The grey troll looked to Poppy for help with this situation, she met his gaze and smiled at him, it was almost as if the princess had been somehow expecting this fight over him to break out. It was very clear to the survivalist that the pink troll was not about to stop Creek and Guy Diamond from fighting over him. Branch’s attention was drawn back to the other two trolls as Guy flicked his hair towards Creek, but after his experiences with the survivalist the purple troll was now much quicker with his own hair, the guru caught the other troll’s hair with ease and then pushed him back with his own hair growling the whole time. Guy tried to yank back his hair but Creek was stronger than him and wouldn’t let go of his hair, instead the spiritual troll used the hold he had on the sparkling troll’s hair to force him down onto his knees on the ground. “Branch is my mate!” Creek declared walking up to Guy Diamond and looming over the now kneeling troll growling down at him threateningly. “Mine! Understand!” The purple troll demanded of the other troll.

“Branch is yours.” The sparkling troll said in response, which was a formal way of surrendering the battle for another troll during the mating dance.

Creek retracted his hair, he then turned towards Branch, the guru stalked the short distance back to the grey troll and held his hand out to the survivalist in a demanding manor. Branch’s teal blue eyes met Creek’s grey blue he could see in his grey blue eyes the love which the spiritual troll held for him. Gulping with sudden nervousness the survivalist put his hand into that of the purple troll and let the guru pull him close. Then as music began to play again the spiritual troll began to carefully guide the survivalist around the floor in a simple slow dance, as they danced Branch felt that warm feeling inside him waking up once more and this time the grey troll didn’t try to stop it rushing through him. The grey troll didn’t notice that that anything was happening to him externally as he embraced love and happiness, until he realised that teal light was racing over his skin. The two trolls stopped dancing so too did the rest of the trolls all of them watching what was happening to the grey troll with awe and surprise. Branch watched with wide eyes as the teal blue light washed up his body, Creek was also glowing but with purple light and he was now staring at Branch. “Oh, Branch you have such handsome colours and this light…” The spiritual troll said softly to the other troll his sentence trailing off because the guru was afraid of finishing it and frightening his mate.

“Means I found my happiness and that I love you.” Branch said gently to Creek finishing his unfinished sentence for him.

The eyes of the purple troll went wide and he said with disbelief clear in his voice. “Did you just say that you love me my mate?”

“I did my mate.” The blue troll confirmed with a nod.

“My mate I like the way that sounds when you say it to me.”

Slowly Branch smiled it became a full wide smile and Creek was sure his heart was going to explode with joy at the sight of that smile. Branch then leant closer to the one he loved before whispering into his ear. “My beloved one, my possessive mate.”

The guru took a deep breath and he could feel the blush spreading over his cheeks. “My love, my mate.” Creek said softly in return.

“Thank you Creek.”

“What for?” The purple troll asked the blue curiously.

“For not giving up, for showing me how to be happy again and for loving me.”

The spiritual troll smiled at him. “I knew deep down that you loved me and I wasn’t about to give up on you. I look forwards to showing you how to be more spiritual and to spending the rest of our lives together…I won’t rush you Branch…Or at least I’ll try not to but one day I’d like…I like us to have a pod…”

Again that beautiful smile appeared on the face of the now blue troll. “A pod huh…I wonder what our child might be like…One thing is for sure when the time comes it will be loved.”

“It will.” Creek promised his mate meaning it with all of his heart before they started to dance together once more.

When the song ended and they stopped dancing Branch slowly lifted one hand, he pulled down some of his hair to see if it had changed as well and was happy to see that his hair was now the royal blue, a colour it hadn’t been since his childhood. Creek smiled at the survivalist as he did this it as he found this action on the part of his mate a rather endearing gesture, as soon as the blue troll released his hair, the purple troll grabbed Branch’s hand, the guru pulled the other troll off of the dancefloor, he led him away from the party and to his pod. As they got to the door, Branch gently pulled Creek to a halt and then addressed him. “Are you sure about this? I still have some shadows from my past that haunt me…”

“I’m very sure Branch, I told you from the beginning love you are my mate. As for your shadow’s we’ll fight them together love, I won’t leave you and I won’t run but then you know that about me already. I promise that no matter what it is that has caused you so much pain and sadness I’ll be right beside you to help you heal from it.” After he said these words Creek tugged the now unresisting Branch into the pod and closed the door to his pod firmly behind them.


	8. Chapter eight

The special extra:

Creek could hardly believe that Branch and himself had been mates for a year and a half now, the time had simply flown by. The purple troll looked back on their first night together with much joy, as a newly mated couple it had been the first time they had sung together and Branch’s wonderfully angelic voice had been a wonderful surprise. Creek had to admit he always enjoyed hearing the one he loved sing, and Branch did a lot more singing now he was happy. After the blue troll moved out of his bunker and into their now bigger pod Creek had taken great pleasure from showing his love how to meditate, and how to be more spiritual. It had turned out that the blue troll made a very good pupil and he had soon picked up everything which the guru taught him. In return for his teaching Branch had shown the purple troll some of the most amazing natural sights Creek had ever seen, as well as teaching him how to defend himself better should the need arise.

It had been one night six months after they had been together when Branch had finally confided in the one he loved about the loss of his grandma and how it had affected him by making him lose his happiness and colours. Creek had listened to everything the blue troll had to say without interrupting him, he had hugged his new mate close supporting him while Branch had spoken about his past and Creek had continued to hold his love as the survivalist had finally allowed himself to properly mourn the loss of the last and beloved member of his family. This knowledge of his mate’s past had allowed the guru to understand him a lot better than before and after this the purple troll always made sure to tell Branch that he would always be there for him, that he loved him and most importantly that no matter what he would never have any other troll to be his life mate. Branch’s response to this had been wonderful positive, he would always return Creek’s words of love and his reassurances with his own conformations of a love to last a life time. The purple troll had to admit that he rather liked the fact that in response for him calling Branch by the pet name of love that the one he loved always called him beloved.

A year after they had become mates the blue troll had surprised the guru on their first anniversary by coming down to breakfast openly waring a thick silver wrist cuff round his left wrist centred by a stone in exactly the same shade of Creek’s skin. The first time the spiritual troll had noticed that his mate was wearing a traditional mated wrist cuff on his left wrist were hug-time bracelets were usually worn Creek had nearly had a heart attack then and there. It was so rare to see one being worn now, and when Branch had nervously held out an identical one centred with a blue stone to match his skin tone towards him as a gift for their anniversary, the guru hadn’t waisted a moment, Creek had taken it from his mate taken off his old bracelet and replaced it with his cuff. The purple troll hadn’t even needed to ask his mate were the cuffs had come from, he knew that Branch had made them for them and this made the cuff he now wore even more precious to him.

When the rest of the trolls had noticed the matching cuffs they too were surprised to see them and there had been some trolls whom had complained to King Peppy about the fact that neither one of the couple now wore a hug-time bracelet. The disquiet over the cuffs had grown so loud that in the end the King had called a large tribe meeting to address the issue. It was during this meeting that Peppy had informed the other Troll’s that Branch and Creek had broken no laws and were in fact following a very ancient troll tradition which had never been outlawed in any way, but had just pushed to one side in favour of hug-time bracelets after their escape from the troll tree. King Peppy had then gone on to give the couple a special royal dispensation which allowed them to hug when and where ever they wanted. This was a dispensation which both trolls took great advantage of spending a lot of their time hugging each other.

Today was Creek’s birthday and he was well aware that his love was up to something special for his birthday but the guru had been careful not to ask to many questions of his mate in case he ruined the surprise which Branch had been working so hard on putting together for him. When the afternoon of his birthday came around the purple troll was in the royal pod and all of the members of the snack pack were present too. One by one all of this little group had all given the guru their birthday gifts and the only troll left to give a gift was Branch. Slowly the blue troll stood, he walked over to Creek and held a card out to him, the purple troll accepted the card from his mate. Once the one he loved had taken the card from him, Branch placed a kiss onto the cheek of the spiritual troll before saying to him gently. “I hope you will like your gift, I’d like you to read the card out my beloved mate.” As Branch had presented the card to Creek, this gift had caused the members of the snack pack to all share looks of confusion as to them this didn’t seem much like a gift between two such clearly in love mates.

At the same time as the snack pack were thinking this, Creek had gave the blue troll a nod of understanding, before he carefully opened the blue heart shaped card and then read out the words which had been written inside by his mate. “I could not put your present in a box or decorate it with a ribbon, but if you give it five months I promise your present will no longer be hidden.”

There was a long silence, as all of the troll’s tried to work out what Branch was talking about in this message to the one he loved. It was Smidge who was the first one out of the group of trolls to work out what the blue troll was telling his mate and said loudly. “Oh my god!”

Then suddenly the purple troll also worked out what Branch was telling him, his eyes went wide, Creek dropped the card and got to his feet. “Branch are you telling me that we are going to…To…To have a pod?”

The blue troll smiled widely at his mate and gave him a nod. “Well, love we are not going to have a pod, we in fact already have a pod growing…Do you like your present?”

“Oh Branch!” Creek quickly threw his arms round him mate drawing him in for a short but strong hug, before placing a quick gentle kiss to his lips and then pulling back to say to him. “Thank you love…This is amazing…A pod…I can’t believe it and the pod is healthy?”

“Yes love wonderfully so, do you want to go and see it?”

“Of course I do!” As soon as Creek had said this he turned to the rest of the party guests and said to them. “Please excuse us.”

Smiling understandingly at the couple the snack pack just waved them off and together hand in hand Branch and Creek made their way out of the royal pod and into the troll tree. The blue troll led his mate to where their pod hung, Creek stood on the branch next to the one he loved staring at their pod in awe. The pod was coloured with royal thick blue stripes against a background of purple, and between the stripes of royal blue were dots of teal blue and turquoise green. As far as Creek was concerned next to Branch this pod was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his whole life and the purple troll couldn’t believe just how lucky he was. As the two soon to be fathers stood by the side of the pod, it and they lit with light confirming that this was definitely their pod. Slowly the two trolls smiled, Creek looked at his mate standing next to him and then said softly to Branch. “If it’s a girl I want to call her Rosiepuff.”

The blue troll’s head snapped round to look at him, his eyes were wide and when he spoke his voice trembled. “Thank you my beloved.”

“No love thank you for the most wonderful birthday gift I have ever received.”

Branch smiled gently at Creek and then spoke to him. “You know I never imagined that you stealing hugs and kisses from me would result in this.”

The purple troll grinned back at his mate and said without a trace of shame. “I knew it would love, I was determined that you would be mine and no other troll’s.”

“And now I am yours.”

“Indeed you are.” Creek said softly before he captured the lips of his mate with his own in a searing kiss. Branch responded to this quickly, putting his arms around the one he loved and pulling the other troll close to him. The purple troll let out a sigh of contentment, as far as he was concerned this was perfection, the guru couldn’t have asked for more in his life and now he had the heart of the one troll he had always loved for his now and always Creek was more than content with his life.


End file.
